SADC to consider real sanctions?

Reliable sources, speaking for the first time since the Troika summit, said Zuma was “furious” with Mugabe and in a private confrontation had told him that South Africa could not keep propping him up.

Mugabe, sources said, appeared ready to contemplate the break up of Zimbabwe rather than surrender power. He has undermined the transitional government and shown open disdain for the GPA. In what was seen as an act of defiance Mugabe left the talks before a final communique was issued.

One source said the SADC summit slated for May 20 in Windhoek, could be asked to consider sanctions if Mugabe refuses to adopt the election roadmap. Zambia’s President Rupiah Banda reportedly raised the spectre of sanctions.

Observers said a South African blockade could bring Zimbabwe to its knees within 48 hours. Don’t forget it was South Africa that forced Ian Smith to the negotiating table. Beitbridge is the countrys lifeline and Zuma has the power to strangle us, said one economist.

Morgan Tsvangirai, Arthur Mutambara and Welshman Ncube all reportedly told Zuma that Mugabe’s rejection of the election roadmap did not mean anything. They said the consensus that Mugabe was obstructing peace meant that heavy diplomatic pressure would now be brought to bear on him. Diplomats said regional leaders were so firmly aligned against Mugabe that he could not disobey them.

Zuma is expected to get a formal progress report from his chief of mission Lindiwe Zulu and report back to regional leaders next month. A senior Southern African diplomat in Harare said: “We cannot afford for this crisis to rumble on forever. We have made it clear to the president that he needs to complete the constitution-making process before any elections.” Other sources who attended the summit said Zuma had agreed with the MDC delegations that Mugabe was not fully committed to free and fair elections, and wanted SADC peace keepers deployed as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Zanu (PF) spokesman Rugare Gumbo is back-pedalling furiously in an attempt to undo the damage done to Zim-SA relations by former spin doctor Jonathan Moyo, whose vitriolic attacks on Zuma in the state-controlled press have shocked many. Gumbo insists the party line is being correctly enunciated by civil servant George Charamba and not politburo member Moyo.